Buoy.



No. 832,881. PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906. J. H. SKINNER.

BUOY.

APPLICATION IILED- MAR. 10. 1906.

$51 ,zwfww JOHN H. SKINNER, OF GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN.

if BUOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed March 10, 1906- Serial No. 305,390.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. SKINNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Haven, in the county of Ottawa and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Buoy, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to buoys, the object of the invention being to provide a buoy for designating channels, the location of wrecks, and for various other purposes for which arti cles of the class referred to are ordinarily used, the said buoy embodying,in connection with a suitable float, an internally-arranged reel upon which the anchoring-cable is wound and from which it is paid out as required.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buoy embodying a float of sectional construction chambered out to receive the reel and anchoring-cable wound thereon and also embodying means whereby the sections of the float are coupled together to admit of the same being separated to give access to the contained reel.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement, as herein fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the improved buoy. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the buoy opened up and illustrating the internal construction thereof.

The buoy contemplated in this invention may be of any described or conventional shape, said buoy for the purpose of illustrating the present invention being of oblong form or pear-shaped.

In carryingout the present invention the body of the buoy or float is divided centrally and longitudinally on the line 1 to form two sections 2 and 3 about equal in size. These sections are ordinarily formed of wood or buoyant material and are connected at one side by means of one or more hinges 4, so that the buoy may be opened up in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The buoy-sections are also provided at suitable points with fasteners 5 for securing the two sections together, the

fasteners shown consisting of ordinary hooks and eyes.

One of the buoy-sections is recessed in its inner face to form a pocket 6 of general semicylindrical shape, which is adapted to receive a reel embodying a shaft or axle 7 and oppositely-arranged flanges 8, between which the anchoring-cable is wound. The buoy-sec; tion referred to is further provided with small semicylindrical recesses 10, forming bearings for the ends of the shaft 7. The

other section of the buoy is recessed, as shown at 1 1, to receive that portion of the reel which projects from the opposite section and is .:lso provided with recesses 12, which register with the/recesses 10 and complete the bearing-sockets for the extremities of the shaft 7 of the reel. The recess 11 is extended, as shown at 13, lengthwise of the section 2 of the buoy or float and opens out at the point 14: at the extreme lower end of the buoy, so as to allow the anchoring-cable 9 to pass outwhard from the buoy to receive a suitable an- 0 or. be provided with a shallow recess or groove 15 in its inner surface and at its lower end which comes opposite the outlet-opening 14 of the section 2 in order to pass the anchoring cable 9 exactly out of the lowermost central point of the buoy.

In launching the buoy the buoy and the anchor fastened to the cable 9 thereof may be simultaneously thrown overboard at the place selected. The buoy will float on the surface of the water, while the anchor will descend to the bed of the steam, automatically drawing out the cable 9 and winding the same from the reel, it being understood that the cable is fastened at one end to the reel. Ordinarily suflicientslack is left in the cable 9 to permit the buoy to be lifted upon the deck of a vessel, so that the buoy may be opened and the condition of the interior parts thereof examined.

I claim The other section 1 of the float may 3 i A buoy comprising a body divided along its longitudinal axis into separable sections, a reel detachably mounted in recesses in the meeting faces of the sections and having an axle the opposite ends of which project beyond the ends of the reel into bearing-sockets I In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in (siaid llneetaing faces, aflllld a 1(lzable wound on in presence of two Witnesses.

sai ree an assin t oug an 0 enin in one of said m eting faces, the buog -sectl ons i JOHN SKINNER' being connected by a hinge the axis of which Witnesses:

is disposed lengthwise of the sections, sub- JOHN S. HOBART,

stantially as described. L. H. OSTERHOUS. 

